Ambrosia Tea Bread

This weekend I pondered, if you added orange zest and pineapple and coconut to a tea bread recipe, could you call it Ambrosia Tea Bread? I decided yes, and the result was a very moist, fruity cake, quite unlike the dreaded fruitcake that's often the subject of jokes at this time of year! This one is so rich and filling, one half a small slice makes a nice treat with your afternoon tea.

Ambrosia Tea Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 1 large orange
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained of all juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside. In separate bowl, whisk egg for several minutes until frothy. Add milk and vanilla and combine. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients along with orange zest, coconut and pineapple, and mix just until combined. Pour into a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan prepared with cooking spray and lined with parchment paper. Bake 75 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto wire rack and let finish cooling. Wrap well and refrigerate unused bread. Yields 1 loaf.